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Don’t apologise. Sleep in my bed, I’ll take the couch.

I nodded and sat up, the blanket I’d pulled over us sliding off me and onto the floor to reveal the tiny pyjamas I’d thrown on.

“Come on, I won’t make you stay on the couch. And I’ll find you something to sleep in.”

“Think you’ll have something that will fit?” Juniper asked as she took my offered hand.

I helped her up off the sofa, not letting go as we made our way to the bedroom. I flashed her a smile, winking.

If i wasn’t so tired, maybe I would’ve asked her to sleep naked.

And maybe, if she’d actually kissed me in the VIP, it wouldn’t have been a joke.

“Might not be up to your standards, but I know I do.”

juniper

. . .

Vi’s lipswere warm and soft as they passed over mine, our kisses unhurried as we cuddled under the covers.

The neon cityscape drifted through the sheets in patches of pink and blue, lighting the panes of Vi’s face. Her lips parted as I drew her closer, my fangs grazing her lip in a small scrape that had the sweetness of her blood exploding over my tongue. Metallic and salty and so fuckinggoodthat I sucked on her lip for another taste, making her groan.

“Juni,” Vi whispered on a moan. “You’re going to make me come.”

“Maybe I want to,” I teased, my fingers working her clit in tight circles. “Would that be a problem, little rabbit?”

My phone buzzed, shaking me from my dream, and I gasped, jerking up in bed to find Vi sleeping soundly beside me.

A sex dream?I wondered, the idea foreign to me.

I hadn’t dreamed much since I’d been turned… and it hadn’tfeltlike a dream. It felt like something else—somethingmore.

Tangible. Real.

Like last night in the VIP. For a moment, it was like we’d been there before…

But Vi hadn’t ever been in the backrooms with me before. Or spent the night. And I had never been in her—or Kaylee’s, I guessed—bed before now…

What the hell was that dream?

My phone buzzed again, and I grabbed it off the nightstand, slipping carefully from under the covers to pad into the hall as it continued to ring. The oversized T-shirt Vi had lent me to sleep in was my normal size, though I’m sure she’d be swimming in it. I’d felt a little self-conscious until I’d caught her staring at me halfway through the movie, eyes fixed longingly at the curve of my thick thigh where the hem just barely reached.

It wasn't that I didn’t like her.

Actually, it was the exact opposite.

Ienjoyedbeing around Vi; there was something about her that felt like coming home after a long day.Comfortable. I wouldn’t fuck that up by taking advantage of her while she was shaken up. Or worse, letting her get too close only to find out that I was so emotionally closed off she’d be better off trying to date a Canada goose, and those feathered snakes with legsbit.

Well, so do I.

Hadn’t I bit her in that… whatever it was? Was it possible to taste someone’s blood so clearly when you’d never had it before?

Kaylee was snoring on the couch, leaving me no other choice but to stay in the hall, findingthe only patch of wall that wasn’t covered by photographs or questionable art projects to lean against so I could take the call.

“What do you want?”

“Good morning to you too,” my covenmate said, an irritated edge to her voice.